Northern Ireland: Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety

Baroness Amos: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	As a consequence of additional allocations made to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety since Parliament's approval of Estimates in July 2004, the department has an additional cash requirement in respect of Health and Social Services boards and trusts.
	Parliamentary approval for additional cash to finance these services is currently being sought in a supplementary estimate for DHSSPS. Pending that approval, urgent cash needs, estimated at £143 million, will be met by repayable advances from the NI consolidated fund.

Land Registry: Key Performance Indicators and Targets 2005–06

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: The following list sets out the key performance targets* I have set for Her Majesty's Land Registry for 2005–06.
	Customer Service
	Speed:
	Percentage of official copy and search applications processed within two working days: 98 per cent
	Percentage of all registrations processed within 18 working days: 80 per cent 
	Accuracy:
	Percentage of registrations processed free of any error: 98.5 per cent
	Overall Satisfaction:
	Percentage of customers who, overall, are very satisfied/satisfied with the full range of services provided by Land Registry: Better than 95 per cent
	Financial:
	Percentage return on average capital employed: 3.5 per cent
	Efficiency:
	Cost per unit in cash terms2 (real terms3): £30.011 (£21.75). 1 This is a milestone towards the HM Treasury agreed cost per unit target for 2006–07 of £28.81 in cash terms (£20.27 in real terms). 2 Based on the GDP deflator issued by HM Treasury on 23 December 2004 (base year 1992–93). 3 The real term unit cost in the base year of 1992–93 was £30.65.
	Critical Action Points
	Customer service:
	Make scanned deeds referred to on the register available electronically via land register online; 
	Land registration:
	Register for the first time an additional 5 per cent of the area of freehold land in England and Wales; 
	Electronic service delivery:
	Provide a further data centre for business continuity purposes; and 
	Other business development:
	Complete electronic document authentication prototyping. 
	* More information on these and other key targets is published in the strategic and business plans

National Enforcement Service

Lord Falconer of Thoroton: I am pleased to announce today plans for the introduction of a National Enforcement Service to take forward my commitment to ensuring the fullest possible compliance with court orders. For too long enforcement of court orders has been patchy and flawed. We have made real improvements in enforcement. The payment rate of fines now at 80 per cent compared to just over 50 per cent two years ago. But there is more to be done. The time has come for the next stage of reform
	My proposals involve the introduction of a robust national framework to deliver a single consistent enforcement process for the whole of England and Wales, and to deal robustly with offenders who fail to attend court, default on fine payments and breach community penalty orders. The launch of the new unified Her Majesty's Court Service next month will allow us to put in place a cross-criminal justice system enforcement team that is more distinct, professional and better skilled. The specific remit of the National Enforcement Service will be to bear down on the hard core of offenders who consistently attempt to flout their obligations to the courts. This does not mean a new agency or department, but a better, more collaborative approach to tackling enforcement, which builds on the lessons learned from national initiatives including the recent "Operation Payback". Enforcement staff in the magistrates' courts together with the police, the National Probation Service and other criminal justice agencies will form the core of the service.
	Improving sentence compliance is key to building public confidence in the criminal justice system and the National Enforcement Service will do just that. The National Enforcement Service framework will be tested first across a region from April 2006 with the aim of full national rollout in 2007–08.

Veterans Agency: Performance Targets 2005–06

Lord Bach: My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ivor Caplin) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	I am announcing today that the key targets that have been set for the chief executive of the Veterans Agency (VA) for the financial year 2005–06 are as follows:
	Service
	Key target 1: To issue decisions on claims to war pensions in an average of no more than 59 working days. This is an improvement of four working days on the agency's 2004–05 target; and it represents a cumulative improvement of 41 per cent against the agency's 2000–01 baseline level of 100 working days.
	Key target 2: To issue decisions on war widows claims in an average of no more than 23 working days. This is an improvement of two working days on the agency's 2004–05 target; and it represents a cumulative improvement of 36 per cent against the agency's 2000–01 baseline level of 36 working days.
	Key target 3: To achieve an externally-validated war pensions scheme claims accuracy rate of at least 97 per cent.
	Key target 4: To achieve an externally-validated AFCS claims accuracy rate of at least 97 per cent.
	Key target 5: To achieve an externally-validated medical adjudication accuracy rate of at least 97 per cent.
	Working in Partnership
	Key target 6: To work with the Department for Constitutional Affairs Court Service to reduce the average time it takes an appeal to pass through the war pensions appeals process. By 31 March 2006 the average time should reduce to no more than 225 working days. This is an improvement of 15 working days on the agency's 2004–05 target; and it represents a cumulative improvement of 60 per cent against its 2000–01 baseline level of 565 working days.

Iran: Body Armour

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean: In March 2005, after consultation with the Ministry of Defence and the export control organisations, the DTI, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office donated armoured vests and body armour plates to the Iranian Anti-Narcotics Police (ANP). This gift was to provide an element of protection for the ANP in their work of countering drugs smuggling from Afghanistan. We are satisfied that these goods would be used only for anti-narcotics operations and are therefore prepared to make an exception to the UK national embargo announced in 1993, as amended in 1998.
	We are fully committed to implementing the UK embargo on Iran. However, we are, in limited circumstances, prepared to make exceptions where denying an export or a gift would be contrary to the intention of the embargo. As the UK has been active in encouraging and assisting Iran with combating the smuggling of drugs from Afghanistan, I am confident that granting this exception is fully consistent with this responsible approach of supporting the ANP while respecting the aims of the embargo.
	A departmental minute announcing the intention to make the gift was laid before Parliament on 22 February.
	All export licences, F680s and Crown immunity gifts are considered on a case by case basis judged against the consolidated and national arms export licensing criteria.

Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2005

Lord McIntosh of Haringey: My right honourable friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr Paul Boateng) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
	Following the announcement that the Budget will take place on 16 March, HM Treasury plans to publish the public expenditure statistical analyses 2005 on Thursday 7 April 2005.

Patient and Public Involvement in Health: Support Arrangements

Lord Warner: My honourable friend the Minister of State (Ms Rosie Winterton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.
	The Government have today published their response to the recent consultation exercise on the future support arrangements for patient and public involvement in health.
	The main features of the response include
	combining patients' forums in primary care trust areas into single forums but not reducing the number of forum members;
	requiring forums to have chairs who will be appointed by the NHS Appointments Commission. These appointments will be made with the full involvement of forum members; and
	the development of a national resource centre in patient and public involvement that will assist both the NHS and patients' forums in their respective responsibilities in relation to patient and public involvement.
	Copies have been placed in the Library.
	Copies of the consultation findings as well as the Government's response are also available on the department's website.